Las Vegas police have no leads in shooting death of homeless man north of downtown

A homeless man was shot and killed while on the sidewalk just north of downtown Las Vegas early Thursday, and police have no leads.

Officers were called about 4:30 a.m. to a spot of sidewalk just north of Woodlawn Cemetery, near the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard North and Owens Avenue, said Metropolitan Police Department Capt. Andrew Walsh, with the downtown substation. A man in his 40s was found shot and later pronounced dead at University Medical Center.

Walsh said police have “absolutely no idea” if the shooting was random because police have no information as to who was involved or why the shooting happened.

Walsh added that the scene of the shooting is often frequented by the homeless because of its proximity to the Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada food pantry and other similar services. He also said Metro officers in the downtown area were familiar with the man killed, having seen and spoken with him in the past.

“Take a good look at that sidewalk,” Walsh said Thursday afternoon, pointing to the slim slab of concrete lined by chain-link fence and sprinkled with groups of people sleeping and sitting next to carts of belongings. He described it as “no place where any human being” should “have their life end.”

“Everyone in this community should take this crime personally, as personally as the officers who responded to this case, the detectives who investigated this case, and me personally, as the captain of this area command,” he said. “This is a crime that should bother all of us.”

Police did not name the man killed; the county coroner’s office will do so once family has been notified. Walsh asked anyone who knew about the man killed or the shooting itself to contact police at 702-828-3521 or Crime Stoppers at 702-385-5555.

“This isn’t a homeless guy in a sleeping bag on the sidewalk. This is a human being,” Walsh said. “Somebody saw something.”

This was the 149th homicide within Metro’s jurisdiction this year.

Review-Journal reporter Max Michor contributed. Contact Rachel Crosby at rcrosby@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @rachelacrosby on Twitter.